Method of finishing the edges of sheet material



Aug. M, 1923.

J. FOSSA METHOD OF FINISHING THE EDGES OF SHEET MATERIAL 2 Sheets-Sheet l Original Filed Jam.y 21,

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Aug. Mr, W23.

J. FossA METHOD OF FINISHING THE EDGES OF SHEET MATERIAL 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 El Original Filed Jan. 2l

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Patented Aug. 1d, 1923.

NE STATS FAT JOSEPH FOSSA, OF DANVERS, MASSACHUSETTS, .ASSIGNOR T0 UNITED SHOE MACHINERY CORPORATION, OF PATERSON, NEW JERSEY, A CORPORATION 0E NEW' JERSEY.

METHOD OF FINISHING THE EDGES OF SHEET MATERIAL.

Original application 1ed January 21, 1922, Serial No. 539,972. Divided and this application filed June 29, 1922. Serial No. 571,660.

To all whom t may Concern.'

Be it known that I, JOSEPH FossA, a citizen of the United States, residing at Danvers, in the county of Essex and State of Massachusetts, have invented certain Imrovements in the Methods of Finishing the dges of Sheet Material, of which the following description, in connection with the accompanying drawings, is. a specification, like reference characters on the drawings indicating like parts in the several figures.

This invention relates to finishing the edges of pieces of sheet material such as leather parts of uppers of boots and shoes in which a shrinking agent such as heat is employed.

The purpose of treating parts of uppers of shoes in this manner is to produce edges which will take the place of the usual folded edges. These edges are visible in the finished shoe, a familiar example being the edge of the ti which extends across the toe of a shoe. eferring, then, to the tip by way of example, it is customary to fasten the rear edge of the tip to the vamp by a row of stitches which is located as near as possible to the edge of the tip. These stitches pull the tip down tightly upon the vamp. If the edge of the tip has not been suiiiciently curled so as to present an edge which is all grain surface, of course a certain amount of flesh surface will still be visible aft-er the stitching operation. And even though the edge of the treated leather before the stitching operation hasbeen sufiiciently curled so that the edge presents a surface which is all grain, itxsometimes happens that the pull of the stitches straightens out the curl to a greater'or less degree and thereby bringsl to View some of the flesh surface. In eitherl case theresult in the finished shoe is undesirable.

The general object of the invention is to increase the curl imparted to the edge of the stock. ln one aspect of the invention, after the margin of the stock has been shrunk on one side and the margin of the unshrunken side thereby caused to curl toward the shrunken side. the curled edge is struck a blow or a succo-sion of blows in a 'nanner to increase the curl thereof. In another aspect of the invention an upstanding fin is produced on the edgev of the stock, and then this fin is bent over toward the shrunken side. Although the procedure may be practised by means of hand tools it. will preferably be carried out con'imercially by a machine in which .the work is fed over a support first past a -hot tool which curls the edge of the work and then past a hammer which strikes the curled edge in such manner as to increase the curl thereof. Y Referring now to the accompanying drawms,

Figure l is a front elevation of a machine for finishing the edge of a piece of leather With the aid of which the method may be practised Fig. 2 is an end elevation of thev machine;

Fig. 3 is a perspective showing the upper and lower feed members and the manner in which they are mounted;

Fig. L1 is a detail vpartly in section and partly in elevation showing a piece of leather .in process of being operated upon;

Fig. 5 is a detail in perspective also showing the leather being operated upon; and

Figs. 6 to 1() inclusive show progressive steps in the formation of the finished edge.

Before proceeding to a detailed description of the machine a general description of its mode of operation will be given. ferring rst to/ Figures 4 and 5, the work is fedintermittently over a table 13 by an upper feed member'15 and a lower feed member 17, the direction of feed. movement being away from the operator as viewed in Fig. 4 and toward the operator as viewed in Fig. 5. The leather piece rests with its grain side upon the table 13 and upon the lower feed member 17 with its edge in engagement with and bent upwardly by a plow or turning post 19. Commonly the leather is skived on its fiesh side although whether the leather is skived before being presented to the machinel depends upon the nature of the leather. `Soft leather of moderate thickness need not be skived, but thick leather or hard. refrac tory leather, such cow-hide splits. which s nou* much used, requires prior skiving in order to facilitatethe edge finishing operation.

Located opposite the plow is a shrinking i001 21, aus being in the illustrated machine enough to sear and to shrink the leather on one side so that the unshrunken side will curl towardthe shrunken side. The shrinking tool is spaced slightly from the adjacent face of the plow, the width of this space being commonly only a few thousandths of an inch. In this connection it should be noted that Figs. 4 to 10 inclusive are all upon al greatly exaggerated scale. l

As the leather passes beneath the tool, 1t is seared and shrunk so that the grain side curls toward the flesh side, and during this action a thin fin is forced up into the space between the tool 21 and the plow 19. In

Fig. 6 a piece of leather 100 the fiesh side of which has been skived is shown lying fiat in the position it occupies before it has been presented to the plow. As the leather piece is moved along, its edge lpresently rides up on the curved front portion of the plow, `and its uppermargin comes into contact with the lower face of the hot tool. rIhe shrinking .and searing action then begins with theresult that a thin upstanding fin 23 is produced.

In order to bendthis tin lover toward or upon the shrunken flesh side of the leather while the n is still more or less plastic from the heat, a reciprocating member in the form of a'hammer 25 is provided. This hammer (Fig. 5) is just in the rear of the plowvand shrinking tool and strikes the upstanding fin at an angle in such manner as to bend it inwardly. In Fig. 8 the direction ofl movement of the hammer is shown, the pivot about which the hammer is oscillated being indicated at 27, and the direction of lmovement of the hammer being indicated by the arrow. l

In Figs. 9 and 10 two possible results are shown. lVith certain kinds of leather, the heat causes the treated surface of the leather to become sticky so that the fin, when bent over and pressed upon the body of the leather adheres to it as shown in Fig. 9. 'ith other kinds of leather no stickiness (or at least not sufficient stickiness) is caused to produce this result. and in such case the final position of the fin is about as shown in Fig. l0. In any case. however. the extreme edge ofthe leather is bent over the shrunken side.

The illustrative machine comprises a hollow frame 29, which supports the work table '13, the upper and lower feed members 15,' 17,

and their operating parts, and an overhanging arm 30 which supports the shrinking tool 21` and a presser 31. The arm 30 is 37 through which passes a rod-39. One end` of this rod has an eye to receive or c end of a tension spring 41, the other end of which is fastened to a stationary hook 43. The other end of the rod 39 is threaded to receive a thumb-nut 45. The arm 30 is thus springbalanced and may be raised and lowered by manipulating the nut 45. In order that the arm 3() may be held with its tool-carrying end raised considerably from the table when desired, a latch 47 pivoted to the arm has a shoulder 49 which, when the arm is raised sufficiently, engages a stationary pin 51. A second pin 53, which` is carried by the arm, serves merely to prevent the' latch from being accidentally swung into a position -in which it would not function automatically.

The searing or shrinking tool 21, as has been explained, consists of a U-shaped piece of metal. Its ends are adjustably fastened by clamps to the downwardly bent ends of copper rods 57. The horizontal portions .of the copper rods pass through holes in ay split fibre holder 59 the lower half of whichl rests `in a semi-cylindricalmsocket member 60 formed as part of the overhanging arm 30. Set into the top of the upper half of the libre holder is a rod 61 having a rounded top, and set into the bottom of the lower half is a second rod 63, having a rounded bottom. A screw 65, passing through the upper rod and threaded into the lower one, causes the halves of the fibre holder 59 to hold thecopper rods 57 firmly. -The upper and the lower middle portions of the fibre holder 59 are cut away so as to expose the rods 61, 63, as shown in Fig. 1. As has been stated, the fibre holder rests in a semi-cylindrical socket member 60. Fitting over the fibre holder and cut away at its upper .middle portion is a semi-cylindrical clamping member 67 which is fastened to the semicylindrical socket member 60 by screws 69. Beneath the head of each screw is a spring 71 so that by turning the screws more or less the fibre holder 59 may be gripped with more or less force. as may be desired. Threaded through ears formed 'on the clamping member G7 are adjusting screws 73. the ends of which contact with opposite sides of the rod 61. so that. when one adjusting screw is withdrawn and the other advanced. the fibre -holder 59 and with it the shrinking tool 211 may be adjusted angularly. In order to adjust the fibre holder 59. and with it the tool. to the right or left as viewed in Fig. 1. so as to vary the space between the. shrinking tool and the plow, a

. is slidable in an oblique Cn l groove is cut in the outer end of the rod 61 to receive a collar 75 which is fast to an adjusting screw 7 7, said screw being threaded through an ear on the member 67.

The inner ends of the horizontal portions of the copper rods 57 are soldered at about the locality indicated at 77 to insulated conductors 79 which in turn are attached to wires which lead 4to an adjustable transformer indicated conventionally at 81. By manipulating the transformer the temperature of the tool may be varied.

The presser-wheel 31, which as has been stated, is also carried by the overhanging arm 30, is freely rotatable about a pin 83 carried at the lower end of a bar 8'5 which guideway formed in the outer end of the cylindrical head 87 of a rod 89, the rod being held in adjusted position in a split bearing formed in a part of the socket member 60 by a pinch-screw 91 (Fig. 2). The bar 85 has a bent upper portion, and j tends an adjusting screw 93 which is threaded into the cylindrical head 87 but held from lengthwise movement with respect to the bar 85. By turning the screw 93 the bar may be adjusted in the guideway in the cylindrical head 87. In order to hold the bar, and with it the presser wheel 31, in adjusted posltion, a set-screw 95 passes through a slot 1n the bar and is screwed into the head 87. With this construction the presser wheel 31 may be adjusted toward or from the upper feed member 15, toward or from the table, and along the line of feed in either direction.

The upper are driven by mechanism frame 29 of the machine. The lower feed member is caused to move back and forth in a slot formed in the work table 13. The upper feed member 15 has a four-motion movement. When these members are operated, the upper member descends to clamp the work to the lower member, then the two members move forward in unison to feed the work, then the upper member rises to free the work, and finally the members return in unison but in spaced relation ready to begin the cycle again. The lower feed member 17 is fast to one end of a link 97, the other end of which is vfastened to a stud 99 loosely carried by the forked upper end of an arm 101 the hub aty the lower end of the arm being loosely mounted on a rod 103. That end of the link 97 which carries the lower feed member 17 is pivoted on a stud 105 carried at the upper end of a lever 107. said lever being pivoted to the frame at 109 and having at its lower end a fork which embraces a cam 111 on the drive shaft 113. Rotation of the drive shaft. therefore. imparts to the lower feed member to and fro movement in the line of feed. rl`he stem of and lower feed members 15, 17 located in the through this bent portion eX- the upper feedmember 15 is adjustably held by a set screw 115 in one end of a link 117. the other end of vwhich is pivoted about the stud 99 so that substantially the same to and fro movement is imparted to the upper feed member 15 in the line of feed as is imparted to the lower feed member. In order to raise and lower the upper feed member 15 at the proper times to cause it to grip the work at the beginning of a feed movement and to release it at the end of the movement, a rod 119 has at its upper end a ball which is received in a socket in the lower side of the link 117 and at its lower end a second ball, which is received vin a socket in the upper side of a rocker arm 121, the lever 117 and rocker arm 121 being connected by a tensions spring 123 to hold the rod in place. The rocker arm is pivoted at one end on a rod 125 and has at it its other end a fork to embrace aneecentric 127 on the drive shaft 113. The construction and arrangement of all these parts is such that the work is fed intermittently from right to left as viewed in Fig. 2.

The stem of the hammer 25 (see Fig. 1) is adjustably fastened by a screw 129 to a lever 131, the lever being pivoted to a block 133. The block has threaded into it the upper end of a pin 135 which has a head at its lower end. The head of the pin is slidable in a socket or guideway 137 formed in a part of an eccentric strap 141 which surrounds a spherical eccentric on the driving shaft 113. The pin extends up through an elongated sleeve which is rigid with the eC- centric strap, and surrounding the sleeve is a coiled spring 143 the upper end of which bears against the block 133. In the position of partsshown in Fig. 1 the hammer 25 is in raised position, the head of the pin 135 being in contact with the upper wall of the socket 137. When the eccentric strap 141 rises, its movement is transmitted to the hammer through the spring 143, and` after the hammer comes down upon the work, the spring is compressed, so that the blow struck by the hammer is a yielding one. since the head at the lower end of the pin 135 can at this time remain stationary while the eccentric strap 141 is moving upwardly.

In order to record the number of revolutions of the driving shaft 113, a gear 145 on the shaft meshes with a worm gear 147, said worm gear also meshing with a'gear 149. The gear 149 carries atone side a crank-pin 151 upon whiclrispivoted the upper' end of a connecting-rod 153. the lower end of the rod being connected with suitable mechanism for operating an indicator In order to carry away the fumes caused by the action of the hot tool upon the leather. the overhanging arm 30 Ahas a passageway leadingr through it. the rear end. of which connnunicates, when the arm is in the operative position shown, with the intake passageway 157 of a suction tan 159. The forward end of the passageway is connected with a tube 161 the mouth or open end of which is in proximity to the searing tool 21. The suction fan 159 and the driving shaft 113 may be driven from any suitable source of power suc-h as an electric motor (not shown).

The hollow frame 29 is pivoted at 163 to a base 165 so that the frame may be tipped to give access to the working parts carried by it. In order to hold the frame firmly down upon the base, a latch comprising a Ashort rod. 167 having threaded upon its upper end a thumb-nut 169 is provided. The lower end ot' the rod extends into a slot in the base 165 and is pivoted on a pin 168 which is driven into the base.` A collar on .the thumb-nut engages the upper face of a lug 170 formed on the frame 29. After the `nut 169 has been loosened and the rod 167 swung forwardly about its pivot the frame 29 may be tipped back to give access to the driving shaft 113 and the parts connected to In the operation of the machine the leather piece the edge of vhich will be assumed to have been skived is pushed along the top of the table 13 until its leading end is seized by the upper and lower feed members whereupon it is -fed intermittently past the hot tool, the plow and the hammer. The edge of the piece rides up on the curved portion of theplow into the narrow space between the hot tool and the plow so that lan upstanding fin is formed, and while this :lin is more or less plastic, the hammer descends with a wiping action upon it and bends it over the shrunken side of the leather. The extent of thel fin which will be formed can be controlled by adjusting the tool 21 toward or from the plow 19, it being noted (see Fig. 5) that a considerable portion ofthe plow 19 is provided with a substantially vertical face between which and the tool is the space to receivethe fin. The farther the tool is adjusted away from the plow, the greater the extent of the fin which may be produced. The formation of a fin can be practically prevented by adjusting the tool into cont-act with the vertical face of the plow; and by leaving a very narrow 'space between the plow and the tool a very short fin can be produced. It should be noted, however, that irrespectivo of the length of the tin or its presence the hammer, because of its shape and the path of its travel will operate to increase the curl of the edge. p v

By referring to Fig, 1 it' will lie noted that the operative portion of the shrinking tool 21 slopes downwardly in the direction of feed of' the work so that the portion of the tool which first engages thc work is located at a higher lcvcl than is thc remaining portion of tho lool. This high portion olI thc tool is adjacent the curved portion of the plow 19, which'holds the work up to the high portion of the tool. Then, as the work is fed along, it is engaged by the remaining portion of the tool, the space between the lower face of the tool and the table growing progressively less in the direction of feed. The hot tool not only shrinks the work on one side butburns it away more or less on that side; and with this construction the action of the tool is rendered substantially uniform at all points.

The machine which has been shown and described is not claimed herein but forms the subject-matter of application Serial No. 530,972 of which the present application is a division.

Having thu-s described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure byLetters Patent of the United States is 1. The method of finishing the edge of a piece of leather which comprises applying a shrinking agent to the margin of one side of the leather to produce an upstanding fin, and then bendin the fin over the shrunken side of' the margm.

2. The method of finishing the edge of a piece of leather which comprises bending the margin of the piece so that the surface of one side of the margin is concavely curved, applying a shrinking agent to the concavely curved side to form an upstanding fin, and then bending the fin over toward the shrunken side.

3. The methodof finishing the edge of a piece of' leather which comprlses bending the margin of the piece' upwardly in such manner that the extreme edge projects above the flesh side,'applying heat to the flesh side in a degree sufficient to shrink it whereby an upstanding fin is formed on the edge of the leather, and then bending the fin over vtoward the flesh side.

4. The method of'nishing the edgeof a piece of leather which comprises skiving the margin of the piece, applying a shrinking agent to the skived margin to produce an upstanding fin, and-bending the fin thus formed over toward the -surfacewhich was skived.

5. The method of finishing the edge of a piece of leather which comprises skiving the margin of the piece, applying searing heat to the skived margin to produce an upstanding fin, and bending t-he fin thus formedl over toward the surface which was skived.

6. A piece of upper leather the margin'of which is shrunken on the flesh side, said piece having a fin bent over the shrunken flesh side, the edge of the leather and the outer side of the bent fin presenting a grain surface. j

7. The method of finishing the edge of a piece ol' stock which comprises shrinking thc margin of one side of the stock to vcause the unshrunken side to curlO toward the side to curl toward the flesh side, and then shrunken side and then hammering the edge striking the edge a succession of blows to to increase the curl thereof. increase the curl thereof. y 10 8. The method of finishing the edge of a In testimony whereof I have signed my 5 piece of leather Which comprises applying name to this specification.

searing heat to the margin of the fiesh side to cause that side to shrink and the grain JOSEPH F OSSA. 

